Sunday, 29 September 2013

Part 3 of 3. The Trip. The Ego. Consciousness. Duality And Non-Duality.

"I regard consciousness as fundamental. I regard matter as derivative form consciousness. We cannot get behind consciousness. Everything that we talk about, everything that we regard as existing, postulates consciousness ”- Max Planck

This statement resonates perfectly, with what ancients have been saying for over 6000 years. This is the core of non-dual thinking. This statement captures the essence of what this blog has been about. Once this statement is accepted/understood, our understanding of the world is radically changed. It affects every aspects of our lives and thinking, even affects who or what we think we are. So, Who are you then ?

The ultimate question that needs
to be answered is "who are you?", you must answer that to your self,
and not to anyone else. This isn't a question you can ask casually or toy with.
Once you ask this question you have to answer it. Your existence depends on it.
It’s about self-realization.

We can’t be the bodies; science
has dismissed our body as illusions. We can’t be social creatures; society
originates from us, not the other way around.

The society has molded us into creature of
social norms, it has utterly confused us and made us forget, why we are
special. Its taken away the originality we were born with, and imprisonment us
in a invisible trap, of social/cultural/religious dogmas.

We all go to the same schools
and colleges, watch the same programs on television, aspire to similar idea of
a good life. We all dress the same way; want the same cars, the same types of
life partners. Ask any girl what do you look for in a guy, here is what you’ll mostly hear. He should be honest, smart, successful/educated, open minded and should
have a good sense of humor. Ask a guy what kind of girl he wants; she should be
beautiful, modern, traditional, honest, caring and etc etc.

What are these? These are the stereotype
of a perfect human being, preached by popular culture. These are labels, and
our specie we love to put labels on everything.

Hinduism and theology of many
other religions have rightly identified that man is trapped and ruled by his
vices. These vices alone stand in the way of liberation, true wisdom and
self-realization.These are what makes up the ego or the mind; kama (lust), krodha (anger), lobh (greed), moha (delusion),
mada or ahankar (pride) and matsarya (jealousy).

The Trip - Is
uncontrolled direction less rising and falling of thought, the movement of
thought, latching from one thought/idea to another.

No evidence is required for
this, one can experience this trip first hand, all you have to do is close your
eyes and pay attention to the talking/thinking inside you. How thoughts run
wild from one to another ceaselessly. If you think they are under your control.
You are in for nasty awakening. If you are in control of all those thought, go
on. Try and stop it. Try to not have any
thought, maintain total silence just for 1 minute. Okay ready? Go!

Here is probably what happened
your first thought was on how to not have a thought, which lead you to another
thought and another and so on. This is what is meant by “the trip”.

Apart from very few exceptions of self realized beings.
We are all tripping, with almost no control over it. Some of us realize that we
are tripping. While others through no fault of their own, never realize this
critical fact. No one ever told them. How do you find something that you aren’t
even aware of? The reason is lack of information, and being sucked into a
consumerist world.

Realizing the trip is the first step. You can’t claim
ignorance anymore. You have just been informed!

The Ego

The ego
is the identity you have created for yourself. A construct of the trips you
have. It’s who you think you are. The role you play. Someone’s son or daughter,
husband or wife, Ceo or a manager in some company, etc.

An example-

We would all agree to the statement. “ I am not
the same person, I was 5 years ago”

Think about that statement I am not the same
person, I was 5 years ago. That’s a contradiction. Who was this “I” 5 years ago,
and who is it now? Which one is really you? To both of them you refer as I, but
there can’t be more than one I.

We would all agree that we are different people,
in different situations. A different “I” when talking to your mother, A different
‘I’ when with girlfriends or boyfriends, different ‘I’ when with your friends,
total different one when with enemies. Some times you are kind, sometimes rude,
sometimes good and other times bad.

These are all the roles we play, shaped by our
own beliefs and our understanding of what is acceptable or expected of us in
each circumstance. Fueled by our need to be accepted, loved, respected or
liked, etc etc. We play these different roles accordingly.

This role-playing, experiences/memories we have
had in our life, over time gets forged into an identity. Who we think we are
we. This identity we have created is the Ego.

If you are not the person, who you were 5 years
ago or 1 day ago and you are not going to be the same person you currently are,
5 years from now.

Then who are you really? Who is this ‘I’, you
keep referring to?

In the simplest words possible, you are the ‘I
am-ness’. You are that sense of “I-ness”. That feeling of being, feeling of consciousness itself. Spirituality
refers to this as the Atman/Spirit/Consciousness.

Consciousness- is simply
the feeling of “I am ness”, that you have.

Consciousness is awareness. We
know a dog has consciousness. So does a bird. Maybe even bacteria being aware
of temperature, chemicals or food. Maybe, even a rock has some sense awareness
of its position or movement when being thrown.

But where we differ is self- awareness. Being aware of your
own selves. That’s what makes us special. This is where we get the concept ‘I’.
A dog doesn’t have this sense of I; he does think oh I am hungry or angry.
There is just hunger.This
self-awareness is the reason why we can do all the amazing and complex task.
Contemplate the entire universe or our selves.

Self-awareness is kind of
double-edged sword. A great boon and a curse. It gives us our concept of ‘I’,
which leads us into duality. This
where the thoughts, trips, the ego, culture, art, war, feeling, thoughts stems
from.

Duality

What is Duality?

Duality is the state or quality of being two or in two parts.
Duality is inter-related polar opposites.

I’ll give you examples of how duality
arises. When ever we make any statement. We create duality, for example. If I
say I’m a tall guy, by that statement I have created a polar opposite. Compared
to me there must be guys who are short.

If there is good, in relation to
it, bad automatically exists.

If cold, then hot. If beautiful,
then ugly. If right, then wrong.

When we say that I am a man or
human. We create our polar opposite, as god or the universe.

Similarly the sense of
self-awareness creates duality automatically. It divides the universe into the
self (the body) and the non-self (external world). Our senses give rise to
duality. To view the world, we must have a point of view. From where we
perceive it. This automatically leads to duality, between from where we look
and what we look at. Creates the here and the there.

We cannot escape this duality
physically.

But we can escape it
intellectually, by understanding ourselves (through introspection/meditation) using both, science and spirituality.

NON-DUALITY

Non-Duality is ancient school of
thought (approx. 6000 years old). It is not a
religion. It emphasizes the importance of Self-Inquiry and pursuit of the
truth. Its core belief is

“Atman is Brahman” – The Upanishads

Atman (The Self, Spirit, Consciousness
identified with body)

Brahman (Universe, Supreme
Spirit, Consciousness as a whole)

Ramana Maharishi used to
paraphrase, the Upanishads (Advaita Vedanta) and say.

“After
knowing that by which you know this (world, Phenomenon) turn the mind inward and then you
will see clearly (i.e. realize) the effulgence of the Self.

That by which you recognize sound, taste, form and smell, know that as your
Self, the Supreme Brahman (cosmic unity, Noumenon), the Lord of lords.”

This quote is saying,
that its consciousness thru which we perceive the world, sounds, tastes, forms
and smells, and this consciousness is what you are. Which is also the entire
universe, phenomenon and noumenon.

This is a non-dualistic
understanding. Accepting this intellectual is the first step in non-duality.
Which will give rise to an understanding, beyond the concepts. Once this
happens you will be at peace inside.

I know what you are
thinking. How can I be the universe? You say that because you
understand and see the world in duality. Of good and bad, right and wrong,
beautiful and ugly, God and Man.

“All there is, Is
consciousness.” - Ramesh Balsekar

Consciousness is called
“the Atman” when referred to a person. Consciousness is called the “The Brahman”
when referred to the universe.

Without this
understanding our lives are meaningless wondering/seeking, filled with
suffering.

The mistake we make is
to identifying our self, with the perceived identity (the ego). The ego is
nothing more than a role-playing, some play socially appropriate role. They
crave approve of others. Some play rebellious role. They crave attention, by
challenging the norms.

Why do we do this?

“Desire is the root of all human suffering.”- Buddha

We want/desire to be
happy, we want pleasure. To be happy we need social status, money, popularity,
love, sex, a certain job, a certain house, a certain title, etc etc.

Happiness comes from
within, and not from material possession or social validation of your own self.

It is ignorance, a myth
created by society and media, to sell us all their products. Bushmen living in
the jungles in Africa, are much more happier than us. And yet they have
nothing, compared to us. Apart from one little under-rated thing called “Acceptance”.

Unless you have
acceptance of “what is, as it is” you can never have happiness. Acceptance of
the fact, that you have no control.

You think you have
control, yet you can’t even control the thoughts in your head. Can you control,
not feeling anger, hate, love, or sorrow? Control is an illusion you have,
created by the ego. We will talk about free will in the next part.

All our problems have a
common orgin. It’s the ego. You can be the ego all your life and never live a
single moment. Because rather than being
present in each moment, and living life as it comes. We ponder what was, what
will be, fearing, hoping. We waste our present.

I’ll give an example of
what I mean by that. Something we can relate to.

“A kid has memorized a poem
to recite at school, he has recited it over and over again, from memory perfectly
in front of his parents and the mirror.

Finally he is sitting
in the classroom, as his turn inches closer. The ego begins its meaningless chatter, his mind is filled with these voices. Fear begins to rises through his body, fear of judgment, fear of performing, what will his peer think, will they laugh or make fun of him, what will the teacher think, what grade will he get.

And before he knows it, he is standing in front of the classroom, drenched in fear, tongue-tied,
uttering nothing but uhh and umm. All that he had memorized is pushed to the back, by the fear that is ruining his present. ”

Ego has ruined the
present by focusing on the future.

He couldn’t recite
because there is too much noise in his head, because rather than being in the
present and performing, he was worrying about the future, believing what the Ego is telling him, that he
will fail. And once he does fail the ego is re-inforced as being right. A
Self-fulfilling prophecy!

Next time a recitation
happens this kid will move heaven and earth to get out of it. Ego will never
let him forget, he will re live the failure over and over again in his mind.

This time the ego has
ruined the present, by being fixated in the past.

The ego is always
worrying about the past or the future. Because it believes is has control. Ego
is the “THINKING MIND”. Thinking mind has no benefits, all it does is take you
away from the present, feeding on all the vices. It can destroy us from within.
Sadly this is what is going on within people all day.

The past is gone. It
exist no where but in our minds, it affects nothing but our minds. If we would
just let it go, it would be gone. And we would be free of it. But we carry the
excess baggage from the past, which ruins our present. It’s same with the
worrying about the future.

Not all thinking is
bad of course. You can’t understand this, without thinking. For example, If you need to
drive to a different city, you need to think, which road to take, what time to
leave, etc. You need to think to achieve this, think of the last time you
drove there. This sort of thinking is called the Working Mind, the problem-solving mind. Working mind isn’t
judgmental, its functional thing. It doesn’t care about the past or the future,
success or failure. It is totally focused on solving the problem at hand.

Once the thinking mind/ ego has been identified correctly, it becomes an-unwelcomed guest. Given time and persistence, thinking mind is transcended. With it gone the role playing, conforming to stereotypes and constant need for social acceptance ends. Happiness is no longer desired, but becomes an intrinsic part of being without any effort.

Solution to all your problems.

The Veda outlines 3 such possible paths that can be explored, depending upon which ever is best suited to the innate characteristics of a person. 1. Bhakti yoga - Losing one self totally in worshipping an external deity/god, dedicating life to an external entity or moral codes. Its Focus-meditation. Suited for people who have religious beliefs/ Devotees.

2. Prana yoga - Totally focusing the mind and the body on the breath, leading to no mind state. This quietens the mind and brings it to the present moment. Its Focus meditation, suited for the people interested in yoga or physical activities.

3. Introverting. Self-inquiry. Focusing un-divided attention on the activities of the mind. Witnessing the rise and fall of thought, and realizing the source of all thoughts and ego. All of this is done without being attached to an identity or identifying with any thoughts. This is Intellectualization, is best suited for a rational mind. Asking questions such as "Who is thinking (thinking or working mind) or who wants to know” keep the ego and thinking mind in check.

There many ways of realizing this truth, but the understanding is same. The basic idea of meditation, is to focus the un-divided attention on the task at hand, leaving the rest of mind in total peace. Anything can be meditation, even singing, dancing, jogging, driving etc etc.

Meditation is a natural state, when you were a kid, let's say 2 years old, everything you did was meditation. You cried meditation, feared meditation, played meditation even be naughty meditation. As we grow older the chattering of mind, drowns this natural state. This meaningless chattering about the past and future, is the source of all suffering and all of spirituality is focused on removing/quieting this chattering of the mind, and restoring the natural state. Past is gone let it be, stop carrying it around, don’t let the past define the present. Future is un-known so let it be, stay in the present its all you will ever have.

Once the thinking mind/ego is identified, an internal battle rages within a person. The ego fights back using the vices and its tricks. It is not easy but with perseverance the ego/thinking mind can be defeated. And in doing so, you’ll remove the seed of duality. All that will be left behind, will be a Non-Dual (singular) understanding that will stretch from your Self/Consciousness/Atman and cover the entire Universe/Brahman/Non-local Consciousness. Once the ego is transcended, all that is left is the pure being in its natural state, that always reside in the present.

This marks the end of the seeking and suffering. Consciousness becomes free of “its perceived identities” and hence free of all the vice as well. Who Am I?No one, Implicit in this is, I have potential to be everything/ any one. Whatever the present demands.

The realization is that “The Atman was always one with Brahman, can’t be separated!” All there is, is Brahman. The separation is perceptual, an illusion.This is Enlightenment. Living life each moment, one moment at a time, continuously moving forward in time. Just being. Always One with Brahman! Un-affected by the past, not worried of the future. Blissful being, doing the very best in the present without seeking, wanting or expecting anything. Content!

As Buddha says.

“There is Nirvana, but no one in it”

How can this be
achieved?

“Do not dwell in the past, do not dream of the future,
concentrate the mind on the present moment”- Buddha

Science and Non-Duality are both very different ways
of saying the same thing. Their paths head in different directions, seeking the
truth and then converge on the same inescapable conclusion.

“ Fundamental Nature of Reality is Consciousness!”

Two sides of
the same coin- Spirituality & Science.

Which ever you follow the understanding is same and simple.

“We are shaped by our thoughts; we become what we
think. When the mind is pure, joy follows like a shadow that never leaves.”-
Buddha

“The world as we have created itis a process of our thinking.

It cannot be changed without changing our thinking. Einstein

The colour of my consciousness

Turned emerald to green,

Ruby turned crimson.

I looked up to the sky,

The light was lit.

Across to the east and the west.

I looked at the roses, said ‘beautiful’.

They became beautiful !

Be grateful for the chance to live,
learn and experience.

Settle for nothing less, but the truth.
Be in the Present, continuously moving forward in time.

11 comments:

Excellent blog. Everything you said I have studied but in a different way. One of my sayings is: Faith is not a religion. It is a way of life." Another saying I tell people when I do their birth charts is: "what you believe is what manifests." Also...you reap what you sow. Your prime example is tge boy and the poem. He sowed the seed of fear of of failure and that is what he reaped.

Jesus is who I follow as an example on how to live. He said I could do the same miracles ad he did. All I have to do is is not doubt but believe. Christianity calls calls Jesus God. I I understand from this that we are all gods too if only we believed and not doubted. Negativity reigns here on on earth. I try to be be positive and search for truth. You, Ricky, have written a great truth. If only all would believe. Think if how wonderful this world would be!

Thank you. Sorry it took so long to get back, I never realized there were comments.There are countless ways to say, what I have said. Non-dualism is part of every religion, and yet it is not a religious philosophy. There are many interpretations but the essence is same ‘Atman is Brahman’. Self is nun other than cosmic-unity.

After all, if I am Brahman, and that is true. No faculty of faith is required in an external entity.

The world is already a wonderful place. There can’t be good without bad and bad without good. We live in a world of polar opposites and must accept both, in order to be free.

"This blog is awesome! As a whole i enjoyed it and learnt from it but I wouldn't be honest if i didn't challenge some ideas.

I accept the idea of dualism or non-duality or the notion that the highest functions are slaves to our biological cravings, psychological comprehension or the impact of culture. Where i find trouble is applying this practically without omitting our bodies as an illusion.”+mitchell perham Sorry for the late reply. Been bogged down by biological cravings, sickness, shitty internet and work. lol... I’m glad you enjoyed reading my blog and took something back it. That was the intent.

Your objections are well founded, in fact I agree with you. I think you have mis-understood what I meant by “reality/body is an illusion”.. What I meant was that reality (in which the body is included) as it appears to us, which is perceive through our senses, is not the way reality or our bodies really are. In that sense an illusion. What we see is "the image in the mind”/"subjective reality”, this image is a form appearing in the mind. Its the same thing as dreaming, dreams are real in the sense that we see, feel and experience them, but illusion in the sense that they are an image in mind. Similarly this subjective reality(including body) we are aware of is an illusion, its not an accurate view of physical reality.

Having said that, all we can ever see or hope to know is subjective reality(duality), thats all we have, there is no running from it or avoiding it. But one can benifit from “understanding" that there is sooooooo much more that exists, than what we are aware off. In many ways it sets us free of our own biases, we realize our own trip, and hence can begin to shape it consciously AKA self-realization (existentialism)/ Enlightenment(spirituality). This is all enlightenment is, people tend to build it up a lot, but its natural process/state.

For me personally, the dawn of this understanding did wonders, it totally set me free of my vices/demons. Made me appreciate the complexity of existence and its inherent beauty, totally satisfied with what i have.

So by all means, love your body, look after it, enjoy it, don’t get bogged down by the many different brands of cool-aid(consumerism, morality, right/wrong, social norms) out there(not even mine), but develop your own brand of cool aid. Introspect find out your true nature, the source of I.

Subjective Reality is an illusion, but it is a persistent illusion. You can’t escape subjective reality or duality, but you can ‘understand' that physical reality is non-dual! There is one physical reality a unified universe, but 6.4 billion "points of view”(subjective reality) in each and every human. Your the master of your subjective reality, you make the sunflowers yellow, its your light the lights up your world, a living god in the true sense of it.

i sense myself more as being a part (a part that is changing over time in different ways) of the universe and having the ability to somewhat become like any other part of the universe in terms of energy achieved by myself or by other stuff . For example, I can be as hot as the sun if I get launched in it. Another example: I can be at about the same temperature as any other person as long as we're in the same room that's set at a certain temperature and as long as we physically and mentally behave similarly.

Yes like one of the earlier blogs I have spent my entire live studying the socialistic attitudes of humankind...Keeping journals...Negotiating with my own thoughts trying to find my place in a disturbed world!

Studying from religion to religion... was like walking from room to room... I found fault everywhere... But I have learnt in the plus a a kaleidoscope of knowledge and understand the juxtapositions of of aquisition of knowledge "" STAND-UNDER "" .

Studying the sciences as well and still follow up to date information!

I agree with the metaphysics of Buddhism aswell as I do of Islam and christian!

As they all concur with strong fundamentals if you can remive your eye from the socialistic virtues of modern societies!

Totally agree with the ego phylosophy!

" Ego boundries "Is a well known state of sychosis in psychology!Very very familiar with!

" Quantum machanics "Explains the juxtapositions of our basic elements condensed in all things!I am actually a section of you! And you a section of her and so on! In correlation connected for ever no death ever just pepetuations!

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

I HAVE COME TO THE UNDERSTANDING!Like you... we are our true power. ..In a cosmic dance!

An excellent post with regard to how can one release oneself from human stereotypes, mind patterns, thought bondage, fake self-identities, written by a man who didn't only read about the truth but lived the truth first. The readings in the background and the phrasing are the vehicle for this truth. They are beatiful, too. Read and enjoy!

The striking similarity of views and even of some of symbology of the posts constituted an amazingly beautiful surprise to me. Someone who doesn't know the mysterious dynamics of the spiritual life would think that our blog posts (your http://nondualists.blogspot.in/2013/09/the-trip-ego-consciousness-duality-and.html?m=1 and my http://luciandantes.blogspot.ro/2014/02/thresholds-of-awareness.html) were somehow inspired from each others. Mine being delivered later, one could accuse me of plagiarism:).

But, the fact is : there is some common inner experience of the mystery of being in both of us, its so close rendition being owed to the commonality of readings and, for sure, commonality of past traumatic experiences which were some sort of initiatory deaths. Only one who have ecountered in his life situations or inner visions the experience of death very often can write this way. This is no writing, no mere blogging, but a real coming back from the land of the dead, it is some kind of ressurection, if you like.

Also, from quotations and from your metaphoric language I discovered some common readings (let me guess): Ramana Maharshi, on top of them. But I recognize also Dhammapada, Yoga Sutra, Bhagavad Gita and some zen masters. Also, Advaita Vedanta, the best of it-all the great masters of classical Advaita, starting with Gaudapada. And of course, going even back in time, the Upanishads.Keep going on your inward journey and keep sharing your marvellous inner experiences, as I will do the same.

Some of us must take the return jurney from the yonder shore and share the truth, out of love and compassion for the others.